Ukraine's President Petro Poroshenko and members of the Cabinet of Ministers discussed at a meeting on Tuesday the formation of a united local Orthodox church, establishing interaction among government institutions, and the introduction of sanctions against Russia similar to the ones imposed by the U.S., Education Minister of Ukraine Liliia Hrynevych has said.

"As regards yesterday's meeting. We spoke about several issues, starting with the Ukrainian local church. The president informed us about the results of his meeting [with Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew on April 9] in Istanbul, as this is a very important event," Hrynevych said at a briefing after a government meeting on Wednesday, answering journalists' questions about the president's meeting with Cabinet members.

In addition, the education minister said that the meeting addressed the matter of establishing cooperation of the parliament, the president and the Cabinet.

"Plus, we also discussed the issue of sanctions [against Russia], which is also a very broad issue. The government is currently preparing this project, coordinating it, holding numerous meetings, and we are working on this important document, which, after their publication, will deserve special attention of the media," the minister said.

As reported, on April 6, the U.S. Department of the Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC), in consultation with the Department of State, designated seven Russian oligarchs and 12 companies they own or control, 17 senior Russian government officials, and a state-owned Russian weapons trading company and its subsidiary, a Russian bank.

President of Ukraine Petro Poroshenko welcomed the expansion of U.S. sanctions against the persons involved in the 'Kremlin list,' expressed the hope that the European Union will do the same, and also said that he expected the Ukrainian National Security and Defense Council to propose synchronization of sanctions regimes with the United States.